Blue Origin's shiny new mega-rocket, New Glenn, has been un-grounded. The Federal Aviation Administration has given the all-clear for the rocket to fly again, following an April launch where the upper stage apparently decided that delivering a commercial payload was optional.
Blue Origin was characteristically vague about the details, but did reveal on X that the upper stage “experienced an off-nominal thermal condition.” This thermal hiccup caused one of three rocket engines to produce less thrust than expected, resulting in the AST SpaceMobile satellite - which was supposed to be gently placed into orbit - instead taking an unscheduled, fiery tour of Earth's atmosphere. AST SpaceMobile, for its part, confirmed it had insurance to cover the crispy remains of its satellite. Jeff Bezos's space company submitted a report to the FAA and took “corrective measures,” though what those measures were remains a closely guarded secret, presumably somewhere between the coffee machine and the HR department.
The mishap occurred during New Glenn's third-ever flight, which otherwise went swimmingly. The company successfully reused the New Glenn booster stage for the first time, landing it on a drone ship in the ocean as if to say, “See? We're totally fine over here.”
With the grounding lifted, Blue Origin can resume its ambitious launch schedule, which includes plans to send New Glenn skyward as many as 12 times by the end of 2026. It's unclear how much the one-month timeout will affect those plans, but one suspects the rocket has some serious catching up to do.